Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Puella Magi Madoka Magica is a 2011 Japanese television anime series produced by Shaft and broadcast in Japan on MBS and TBS. It was directed by Akiyuki Shinbo and Yukihiro Miyamoto, with an original story and series composition by Gen Urobuchi. Ume Aoki designed the original character concepts, while Takahiro Kishida adapted them for animation; Yuki Kajiura composed the music.

The story begins in the fictional city of Mitakihara, where eighth-grader Madoka Kaname encounters Homura Akemi, a transfer student who warns her not to change her life. Madoka and her friend Sayaka Miki then meet Kyubey, a catlike being who offers girls a contract: in exchange for one wish, they become magical girls who fight witches. Veteran magical girl Mami Tomoe demonstrates this work, but her death exposes the danger concealed by Kyubey’s bargain.

Sayaka wishes for violinist Kyosuke Kamijo to recover from his hand injury, then struggles with the consequences of becoming a magical girl. Kyubey explains that magical girls’ soul gems contain their souls, while despair darkens those gems into grief seeds. When a soul gem becomes completely corrupted, its owner turns into a witch, making the magical girl system a cycle.

The revelation reframes witches as the eventual fate of magical girls. Homura is revealed to have repeatedly traveled through time to prevent Madoka’s death and transformation, reliving variations of the same month. Her looping began after she wished to protect Madoka, and each failed attempt contributes to her isolation.

In the finale, Madoka makes a wish to erase witches before they are born across every time and place. Her wish transforms her into a cosmic existence called the Law of Cycles, preventing magical girls from becoming witches while removing Madoka from ordinary human history. The final television episode first aired on April 21, 2011, after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami delayed its original broadcast schedule.

The series contains twelve episodes. Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Beginnings and Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Eternal, released in 2012, recap the television narrative in two films. Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie: Rebellion opened in 2013 and continues after the series’ ending.

In Rebellion, Homura investigates a false Mitakihara where Madoka, Sayaka, Mami Tomoe, Kyoko Sakura, and Nagisa Momoe fight nightmares rather than witches. The film’s climax has Homura seize Madoka from the Law of Cycles and recreate the world. It won the Television Award at the 16th Animation Kobe Awards, held in Kobe, Japan.